


Ring Ring

by SeverusSnep



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, I hate tags sometimes, Mild Angst, Mutual Pining, References to ABBA
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:34:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27271258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeverusSnep/pseuds/SeverusSnep
Summary: Hermione is painfully far away from Severus, and he just wants her to come home. What will happen when she does?
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Comments: 22
Kudos: 92





	1. Why Don't You Give Me A Call?

Severus’ phone rang, well the phone that _she gave him_ rang. He picked it up immediately.

“You answered quickly.” Hermione sounded surprised.

“My phone was… in my pocket,” he supplied. She chuckled.

“Good, that’s good…” she trailed off.

“Is everything okay?” He asked, trying to hide the worry in his voice.

She had gone away for the week and she’d been very vague about it. To top it off, she hadn’t seemed very pleased about going, but she wouldn’t give him any details other than that she’d be back soon. He was grateful for the phone she insisted upon getting him so that they could talk to each other whenever they wanted, not having to rely on the owls all the time. She argued that it was faster, and he had to concede.

“Yeah, no everything is okay—well—“

“ _Well?”_ He repeated, not liking her answer.

“It’s just… I miss you,” she replied softly.

“Oh,” he paused, “I miss you too,” he admitted.

“You said ‘oh’ like you were disappointed,” she sounded slightly anxious.

‘No, I’m not—I just, didn’t expect that,” he explained. _I want you to come back. Come back to me, I want to hold you._ The words couldn’t leave his lips. She didn’t know how he felt about her.

“I’m a little anxious.” Her voice sounded small. He didn’t like it, she was always so sure and confident.

“Has something happened?”

“No, not really… I just miss you. And if I’m being honest, I really don’t like being here but I have to be…”

“Can’t you tell me why?” he tried.

“Severus you know you’d be the first person I would tell, it’s… complicated. I’m sorry.” She sounded tearful. He wanted to hug her, to rub her back, and make sure everything was okay. To go from seeing her nearly every day to missing her for a week was torture.

“It’s okay, it’s okay… I understand. You can tell me if you want to, I won’t push… I’m here though, remember that?”

“I will, thank you,” she paused like she was going to say something else. He knew her too well, “I wish you were here Sev. Everything would be better… or if I was with you. _That_ would be even better.”


	2. The Happiest Sound of Them All

He melted. He swore he melted like butter left out in the sun. Did _he_ make everything better? Oh, what he wouldn’t give to be with her now.

“I wish I could be there… or have you here.” He could hear her chuckle happily on the other end of the phone.

“Oh I can’t wait to come back, and I’ve only just left. I hope you can handle a big hug at the end of the week. If I mss you this much now, it’ll be unbearable by then.”

“I think I’ll manage… The feeling is… mutual,” the word betrayed his tongue. He felt he shouldn’t have said it, but the soft sigh of longing that met his ears convinced him otherwise.

“I’m sure you’re busy, I should let you go-“

“I’m not busy.” Even if he had been, he would have stayed as long as he could, “should we do something when you come back?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, something… special? So you’ve got something to look forward to when you come home.” The way he’d said ‘come home’ made his stomach turn, and he hoped she interpreted it differently than how he meant it.

“Well I’ve already got you to look forward to, what else could I need?” she chuckled.

He couldn’t stop himself from being filled with pride. She was looking forward to _him_? She might as well have told him she wanted to move in. Well _that_ , technically, would have been a lot better, but he was overjoyed all the same.

“Well, we could… have dinner… or go somewhere… anywhere you want…” His confidence was exponentially lost with each word that he spewed out.

“That sounds great! Aww Severus, you’re so sweet. Thank you!” she exclaimed.

“You needn’t thank me…I just want you to be… happy,” he confessed.

He could hear _that_ noise come from her end of the phone. That noise that she made when her cheeks got all pink and she would hug onto his arm.

“You always make me happy,” she responded. 

_I think I need to go lay down and die somewhere_. _That did not just happen, couldn’t have. I’m hallucinating, everything must have finally caught up to me and I’ve lost it_. Sense seemed to have vacated his body. The words were out of his mouth before he had time to think about keeping his perfectly craft walls up and in place,

“You make me happy as well.” She would surely hang up on him. She would say that that was a weird thing to tell her. She’d come up with some reason to end the call.

“Aww Sev, I can’t wait to see you. You know I love you?”

She had now just turned the whole world upside down. His entire face lit up and he was so glad she couldn’t see him grinning like an idiot. That was surely the happiest sound of them all.

“Erm…well,” he cleared his throat.

“Well I do, Sev. I love you a lot, and I’ll be counting the minutes until I can see you again. I’ll explain everything when I get back okay?”

“Okay,” he mumbled, all the breath having been stolen from his lungs.

“Talk to you later then?”

“Yeah,” he breathed out.

Okay, bye Severus.”

“Hermione?”

“Yep?”

“I love you too,” he murmured. He heard that happy giggle of hers.

“Love you, talk to you later.”

“Talk to you later,” he repeated, breathless once again.


	3. And I Sit All Alone Impatiently

Severus paced around in his kitchen. She’d be coming home today. _Coming home, as if my house is anything close_. He supposed that to him, _she_ was home and that perhaps it was home that was coming back to him. Not ‘her coming home’ at all. The pacing was the only thing that kept him feeling sane. He couldn’t remember the last time a week had felt so long. The promise of her presence and a _hug_ was nearly too much for his old heart to handle. To know that she was excited to see him made a beautiful warmth spread throughout his chest. He debated what he should do. It was too early to start making dinner for her, but maybe she would want to do something else. The opportunities seemed to stretch into the horizon, and all he wanted was for her to be back. He wanted to know why she’d left, and why she couldn’t tell him anything. He wanted to tell her that he loved her.

She hadn’t even said what time she would be coming back, so he was left to wait around until she did. He didn’t give himself another choice. She was all he could think about. He tried to read, he tried to brew, he even went out to his back garden. Nothing could purge her from his thoughts. He was mercifully pulled out of them by a wonderful sound: the phone was ringing.

“Hermione, hi.” Once again, he was glad she couldn’t see the foolish grin that was plastered to his face.

“Hi Severus! I just wanted to call you to let you know that I’ll be coming back soon. I hope it’s okay if I come directly to you?” she asked. He swore he would burst into flames.

“Yes, of course that’s okay,” he held his tongue to keep himself from saying anything else. He so badly wanted to see her again.

“Oh that’s great, I’ll try to get to you as soon as I can. Thanks.”

“Of course, I’ll be here whenever you arrive,” he replied, trying not to sound as excited as he truly was.

The time passed like a snail idly making its way across a garden. By early afternoon, Severus was practically buzzing, every nerve ending was frying as he longed for her presence. He yearned for the moment when he’d hear a knock on the door, or even the sound of it opening with a soft creak. Anything, as long as it brought her to him.


	4. Chapter 4

The knock on the door made Severus feel as though his heart had gotten restarted. A jolt of life was put back into him. _She was home_. He ran to the door, stopping briefly to catch his breath and compose himself, before trying his very best to open the door as though his heart wasn’t on fire.

“Hermione,” he greeted casually.

Her bag had already been dropped on his porch when she shrieked with joy and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. He held onto her, steadying himself at the threshold of his house. She buried her face into his neck, kissing him and rambling on incoherently. He caught snippets of, “missed you so much” and “so glad to be back” but he could barely bring himself to care about much else than having her in his arms again.

“I missed you,” he whispered into her hair.

“Oh Severus! I missed you so much, you’ve no idea,” she exclaimed.

“Well,” he chuckled, “should we go inside?” he suggested.

“Sure! But I’m not letting go of you,” she giggled.

“Fine by me,” he mumbled as he wordlessly summoned her bag to follow them into the house.

She clung on to him and he felt his waist be squeezed by her legs as she insisted upon hanging on to him like a koala, not that he minded.

“Can I get you anything?” he offered as though there wasn’t an entire human being latched onto his front.

“No, I just want you,” she breathed, nuzzling into him more.

He was worried that she’d feel the fire that was threatening to jump out from under his skin. It had been such a long time since he last missed someone, and he was grateful for a much happier outcome. He carefully made his way over to the sofa where he sat the both of them down. She melted into his lap and kept her arms around him, face still pressed into the crook of his neck. He tilted his head to kiss the top of her head, the entire world was finally in his arms again.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” he confessed.

“Mmm, me too,” she purred, giving his neck another kiss.

He was now a bit desperate to get her off his lap and anywhere else. He shifted, hoping she’d get the point and sit next to him. The subtlety was lost on her and she clung on just the same, again, not that he minded.

“Come here, why don’t you sit. I’ll go make some tea.”

That worked. She slid off his lap and settled in her usual spot, opting to hug the pillow that she found next herself. He slipped into the kitchen and began to work as quickly as he could, he didn’t want to be away from her for long, even if she _was_ in the next room. As if the universe heard his wishes, he felt her small hands wrap around his torso from behind. Begging his legs to keep him upright, he turned around in her embrace and wrapped her up in his arms once more.

“Do you want tea, or do you wish to hang off my person indefinitely?” he murmured.

“Can’t I have both?” she pleaded.

“I’m afraid not,” he chuckled.


	5. So, Ring Ring, Why Don't You Give Me a Call?

They settled onto his sofa and sipped their tea, each glad to be back in the company of the other. Once she had drained her cup, she curled back into his side and hummed her contentment. He wrapped an arm around her and her hand slid up his chest. Once again, he could have died on the spot out of sheer joy.

“So… what should we do today?” he queried.

“Mmm…” she purred, “anything.”

She didn’t seem too concerned with making plans. If he didn’t know any better, he would have assumed that she was perfectly content to stay wrapped up in his arms. He knew that _he_ was perfectly content to keep her in his. Her words on the phone played over in his head like a broken record. _I love you_. Surely she’d meant it in a friendly way. Platonic, there was no other word for it. Obviously she wouldn’t feel any other way. The tiny spark of hope within him refused to be put out. _What if_. ‘What if’ would ruin his life and break his heart, he was sure of it. He didn’t dare ask her what she’d meant by it, because he’d been a fool and said it back. And now he wanted to say it again. He wanted to say it again and again and again and he wanted to kiss her forehead and her face and hold her and love her until his heart wore out. The crushing realization that he’d never be the one to do that would most likely do his heart in if thought about for too long. He was too far gone at this point. He had felt his cold, harsh exterior get melted down and smoothed out by her warm kindness. All his sharp edges were softened by her caring gaze. He was the man he wanted to be, and it was her unyielding kindness… perhaps love… that had helped him to get there. The only problem was he wanted to be that man for her. He wanted to love her with everything he had, and he’d never been so terrified as when he realized it. His focus returned to woman curled up in his side, gently nuzzling into him.

“We can do anything you want. We can… stay here… or read or go for a walk… anything.”

“Right here is fine,” she murmured, her curls tickling his jaw as she settled her head on his chest, right below his shoulder.

“Right here?” he repeated. She nodded slightly but he wanted to confirm her intentions, “you’re sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. I don’t care where we go or what we do, as long as I’m with you I’m happy,” she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

Instead of the usual fire and explosions that she set off within him, he felt gooey and warm, like he could have melted into the sofa. He’d be damned if he wasn’t at least a little bit right: she surely felt _some_ way about him. Perhaps not romantic, it would be no surprise, but Merlin he couldn’t imagine her doing that with any of her other friends. In a bold move, at least it felt that way to him, he angled his head down and gingerly placed a kiss on the top of her head. _It was harmless, right?_

She looked up at him and panic flashed through his entire body for a fraction of a second before he saw her bright smile. He seemed to have set something off in _her_. She attacked his face like a playful kitten, kissing his face all over. He had no words left, and he wondered if he really _had_ died in that shack, for this was most certainly heaven. She hovered over his lips, looking at him with those gorgeous eyes that rendered his knees weak. He was grateful for his seated position. She looked at him pleadingly. He snaked his hand up the side of her face and into her hair, angling his own head to receive her should she choose to close the space. He hoped she understood his invitation. She did. Her lips were on his in a bruising kiss, kissing him like she was trying to bring him back to life. Maybe she was. She pulled away and was breathless, looking hungrily at his mouth. The words tumbled from her lips, coated in sugar,

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” he breathed. He was rewarded with that wonderful fucking smile once again, “you’re home,” he whispered.

“Mmmm, home feels good.” She practically crawled into his lap, tucking her head under his chin. His arms seemed to know just what to do as they wrapped themselves around her— like his heart knew to keep beating.

“Hermione?”

“Yes?”

“What are we doing?” He worried if it was too soon to ask, but it would claw away at him if it didn’t.

“I’m not sure, but I like it,” she came up to kiss him again, “I don’t know what you want, but I know that I just want to be with you…”

“I want that too,” his voice strained., “so… “ he couldn’t finish his own sentence .

“So,” she started, “ why don’t you give me a call sometime and ask me out? You already know my answer,” she brushed her nose against his. He nodded quickly before hoisting her up in his lap and diving his hands into her hair, kissing her senseless.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :)


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